A 44-year-old woman of Prineville crashed her SUV about 70 feet down an embankment off Juniper Canyon Road early Saturday and was found after the sound of a drone deployed by Crook County Sheriff’s deputies awakened her.
Deputies were dispatched around 6:30 a.m. after someone called 911 dispatchers to report they saw an unoccupied SUV down an embankment near milepost 14 south of Prineville.
Deputies investigating the crash found that the driver of the Lexus SUV had left the roadway after failing to negotiate a corner, traveled approximately 120 feet down an embankment colliding with several large boulders and trees, and it appeared the that vehicle also rolled.
Shoe prints in the dirt nearby heading away from the vehicle prompted deputies to deploy a CCSO drone to check the surrounding area.
The sound of the drone awakened the driver and she contacted law enforcement on scene.
The woman told deputies she apparently fell asleep and crashed around midnight, was able to get out of the car, but had no cellphone service and decided to sleep under a tree with a blanket until daylight.
Medics later arrived and transported Chetwood to St. Charles Medical Center-Prineville.
Deputies said, a large alcoholic beverage bottle was located on scene near where the driver had been sleeping, however they were not able to develop probable cause that the crime of DUII had occurred.
